Latest Newsletter

Overland flooding in Missouri on Jan. 1. (Steve Zumwalt photo courtesy FEMA)
Crops

Barge accidents rise on flood-swollen Mississippi River

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Chicago | Reuters –– The U.S. Coast Guard temporarily halted shipping traffic on the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Friday after a tow boat struck stationary barges in a fleeting area, marking at least the fifth barge accident this week on the flood-swollen river. High water has severely restricted barge shipping traffic on the […] Read more
Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies for the week centred on Jan. 6. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)
Livestock

FAO seeks help for drought-ravaged Ethiopia

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Rome | Reuters — Ethiopia faces its worst drought in decades, leading the United Nations’ food agency to call on Friday for an emergency cash injection of US$50 million to help the country overcome the crisis. Crop production has fallen up to 90 per cent in some regions and failed completely in the country’s east, […] Read more
Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies for the week centred on Jan. 6. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)
Livestock

U.S. forecaster sees El Nino conditions weakening

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Reuters — The El Nino phenomenon currently affecting weather is expected to weaken during the Northern Hemisphere spring and transition to normal conditions by late spring or early summer, a U.S. government weather forecaster said Thursday. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC), an agency of the National Weather Service, was in line in its monthly forecast […] Read more
(Dave Bedard photo)
Crops

EU food safety watchdog hits back in glyphosate safety row

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Brussels | Reuters –– The head of Europe’s food safety watchdog has written to a group of nearly 100 senior scientists strongly rejecting their criticisms in a row about the safety of glyphosate. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which advises European Union policymakers, issued an opinion in November that glyphosate is unlikely to cause […] Read more
Sea surface temperature anomalies. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)
Livestock

El Nino seen declining, to return to neutral by Q2

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Sydney | Reuters — The 2015-16 El Nino weather event, one of the three strongest in the past 50 years, has peaked in recent weeks and will likely return to “ENSO neutral” by the second quarter of this year, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on Tuesday. The El Nino phenomenon is driven by warm […] Read more
(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)
Crops, Markets

Smallest ag markets biggest winners in commodities rout

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New York | Reuters –– Some of the smallest niche agricultural commodities were the biggest winners this year as weather and disease raised concerns about tightening supplies, spurring a buying spree as an exodus of institutional cash punished oil, metals and grains markets. Cocoa, cotton, sugar and frozen concentrated orange juice on ICE Futures U.S. […] Read more
(Versatile-Ag.ca)
Crops, Machinery

Equipment maker Buhler books year-end loss

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Weak commodity prices and political unease in Eastern Europe have led to a year-end loss for Canadian farm equipment and Versatile tractor maker Buhler Industries. Winnipeg-based Buhler on Tuesday reported a net loss of $5.3 million on revenues of $245.7 million for its year ending Sept. 30, down from a $12.5 million profit on $325.5 […] Read more

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